GOP votes to restore COLA, but kicks debt can down the road

One bright spot today, the House voted to restore the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to military retirees.

But unfortunately, the House kicked the can down the road regarding the debt ceiling.

Once upon a time, a young senator from Chicago said, “The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that “the buck stops here.” Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”

Advertisement - story continues below

Related Stories

I guess Americans deserve better. Tonight the House voted to increase the debt ceiling, with a vote of 221 to 201.

I wonder if and when lawmakers and the president will realize our national debt of $17.3 trillion is a national security matter. We had put in place the sequester which cut federal spending over the past two years, lowering the deficit. But the recent budget act dismissed that restraint.

At some point we must stop the debt clock before it’s too late. We cannot continue down the path of borrowing more money to sustain the burgeoning welfare nanny-state. Our federal government must once again operate within budgetary constraints or else it’s just a matter of time. If the interest rate on our debt increases by just 2 percent it spells serious doom for our fiscal situation and economy. We cannot continue to print money to the tune of $85 billion per month in order to prop up our economy – it’s a house of cards. We cannot continue to monetize our debt to the point where the US Federal Reserve is the largest holder – followed by China. Quite simply, that’s not viable monetary policy.

Back in the day, Senator (and candidate) Obama chided George W. Bush for adding some $4 trillion in new debt, but at the time our national debt was “only” $9 trillion. As we reported here, in five years President Obama has amassed the same amount of debt that it took our nation 227 years to accrue from 1776-2003, 227 years.

Perhaps we should remind President Obama – and ourselves — of his words, “America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.”

Sadly, the American people had a chance for better, but decided otherwise — so we now have the government– and the debt—we deserve.

Meet Allen West

Allen West was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia in the same neighborhood where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once preached. He is the third of four generations of military servicemen in his family.

During his 22 year career in the United States Army, Lieutenant Colonel West served in several combat zones: in Operation Desert Storm, in Operation Iraqi Freedom, where he was a Battalion Commander in the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, and later in Afghanistan.